Behind Trump's visit to The Villages on Thursday

By Katie Sartoris / ksartoris@dailycommercial.com

Tuesday

Oct 1, 2019 at 2:00 PMOct 1, 2019 at 4:07 PM

A now-massive club, Villagers for Trump, was founded in 2016 with the sole goal of supporting the president and others who share his values. In the past 48 hours, its founder, David Gee, says they’ve seen an influx of nearly 300 members, bringing the club’s total to 2,100.

THE VILLAGES — President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak in The Villages Thursday.

That the invitation-only address, and accompanying large-screen broadcast, is happening in the mega-retirement community should come as no surprise.

The Villages is Trump country.

Golf carts and cars don bumper stickers and campaign signs in support of the Republican president. Residents proudly wear their red MAGA hats everywhere: to restaurants, at club meetings, at the gym.

A now-massive club, Villagers for Trump, was founded in 2016 with the sole goal of supporting the president and others who share his values. In the past 48 hours, its founder, David Gee, says they’ve seen an influx of nearly 300 members, bringing the club’s total to 2,100.

The sprawling retirement community has homes in three counties: Lake, Sumter and Marion. They’re either red or deep red counties. Trump won each by more than 20 percentage points in 2016.

Amid an impeachment inquiry, the president is speaking about Medicare Thursday afternoon in the senior community. He’s expected to sign an executive order to "protect and improve" Medicare, according to a White House official.

He initially was scheduled to visit the retirement community, nicknamed Florida’s Friendliest Hometown, in August. But he postponed the visit, right after mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.

The venue — the Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center — seats a little more than 1,000 people. But a White House official confirmed that Trump's talk would be broadcast outside the theater in Spanish Springs Town Square, one of the community’s three downtown squares with nightly entertainment.

The bulk of the active senior community is in Sumter County. There, more than 55,000 of its 101,000 registered voters, about 54%, are Republicans, according to the county’s supervisor of elections. Nearly 25,000 are Democrats. The remaining 21,000 are either registered to small parties or no party all, a growing voter demographic nationwide.

Though containing fewer Villagers, Marion and Lake are red counties too, though not as deep red.

In Lake County, 44% of the county’s 239,000 voters are Republicans, 30% are Democrats and 26% either have no party affiliation or are registered to minor parties.

About 32% of Marion’s voters are Democrats, 45% Republican and 23% are “other.”

Voter turnout in Sumter County regularly leads the state, which is no surprise. Seniors are typically more politically active and likelier to vote than their counterparts in younger generations.

There are three Republican clubs under the umbrella of the Sumter County Republican Party. That includes The Villages Republican Club and the Republican Federated Women of The Villages, exclusive to residents of The Villages. When Jerry Prince took over as president in 2018, they had about 100 members. Today, they have 250.

In addition to the Republican clubs, there’s Villagers for Trump, a club that’s not exclusively for Villagers. Founded in 2016, it’s a revamping of The Villages Tea Party and is open to residents of the tri-county area.

The club holds regular programs for its members and puts on golf cart rallies. Members circle town squares in their red, white, blue and Trump decked-out golf carts, sporting MAGA garb and honking their horns.

On Thursday, it just so happens that the club is hosting its second annual Trump Day Dinner, a ticketed event celebrating the president.

Make no mistake: Though they’re in the minority, Democrats in The Villages are active and organized.

The Villages Democratic Club isn’t some three-person group holding teensy potlucks every other month. Its website boasts that it's the largest Democratic club in the state with 1,000 members. Its monthly meetings are standing-room only in one of the community’s larger recreation centers. It hosts a monthly breakfast and periodic meet and greets called “Democratic Neighbors Orientation.”

An online flyer for one of the DNOs says: “You’re not the only Democrat in The Villages!”

The club gets candidate visits, too. In 2018, they brought in state Democratic gubernatorial candidates Gwen Graham and Andrew Gillum. The Sumter County Democratic party hosted Phillip Levine and a Chris King event.

Smaller clubs for left-leaning retirees exist, too. Among them: The Democratic Women’s Club of The Villages and the Political Moderates Discussion Group.

Still, The Villages is a Republican stronghold.

Members of the Morse family, which owns The Villages, have long been Republican donors. So have residents in the community, as senior citizens are more likely to make political donations than younger folks.

And the big national political names have made stops in The Villages over the years: Paul Ryan in 2012 and Sarah Palin in 2008. When he was president, George W. Bush paid a visit. Vice President Mike Pence held a campaign rally there in 2016.

Former Gov. Rick Scott and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio are regulars. Florida’s previous attorney general, Pam Bondi, has campaigned there, as have former Lt. Gov. Carlos-Lopez Cantera and former CFO Jeff Atwater.

Political clubs like Prince’s and Gee’s often get facetime with the candidates, too.

Both men will be inside the event Thursday. And even with ongoing impeachment talks, Prince said he didn’t think Trump, who’s famous for going off script, will address that topic.

He wants to hear Trump’s Medicare plan, which will likely be a counter to the “Medicare for All” proposals put up by Democratic presidential hopefuls like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

“We’re hoping that he’s going to do something to make sure Medicare is there for people that need it, and take it from people who are not authorized to have it,” Prince said.

Gee said that, in addition to hearing the president's Medicare plan, he’s looking forward to “encouraging words from our president and to hear that he’s staying the course.”

He continued: “And that impeachment is a word that the Democrats will hear, not him.”

This story originally published to dailycommercial.com, and was shared to other Florida newspapers in the GateHouse Media network via the Florida Wire. The Florida Wire, which runs across digital, print and video platforms, curates and distributes Florida-focused stories. For more Florida stories, visit here, and to support local media throughout the state of Florida, consider subscribing to your local paper.